Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a paper packaging material that is slit, expanded, and layered around an object or used as a void fill.
Description of the Prior Art
There are a small number of in-the-box wrapping products found in the market today used to fill the open area within a box that is unused by the item being shipped. Wrapping an item to be shipped puts a barrier between it and the box. It also creates a larger cubic area as it sits within an adjacent void-fill product such as Styrofoam peanuts. The larger cubic area cushions as well as inhibits migration of the item to the sides of the package.
Pleated Paper of U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,480 teaches using pleated paper laminated to one or more outer layers of tissue paper as a cushioning product. The pleat height, paper fiber length, and number of pleats per foot, provide a cushioning product that crushes as force is applied. This application teaches the use of pleated paper as a wrapping material.
Bubble Wrap®, well known in the art, can be obtained with 2″ to 1″ tall bubbles for the use as a wrap and void fill. It is capable of very good cushioning if made from a copolymer that is not recyclable or is very difficult to recycle. Homeowners are not able to recycle this type of plastic easily.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,667,871 and 5,688,578, teach the use of a plurality of individual slits forming parallel spaced rows forming a hexagonal expanded sheet with and without a separator sheet. It requires machinery to stretch the paper into its three dimensional shape at the customer's location such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,778 which teaches the method and apparatus for producing the expansion of the slit sheet material performed at the packing site's location. This material is effective when used in conjunction with the separator sheet but, the separator sheet does not add to the thickness of the material. Additional background information is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,735 relating to slit sheet packaging materials.